Waltham Colonial A

[Jerry Treiman]

Is anyone else interested in Waltham's Colonial-A model? This was truly one of Waltham's most elegant standard production watches. Extremely thin by American standards, it was introduced around 1913 and was the thinnest American movement at that time. Waltham's initial model was 14 size and was made in two grades - Maximus (21j) and Riverside (19j) and were offered in solid gold cases of various designs. The catalog clip below is from 1917.

Around 1918 Waltham introduced a smaller 10-size Colonial-A (offering the same two grades as the 14-size). The 10-size Maximus was upgraded to 23 jewels in the mid-20s and some of the last 14-size Riverside-A were up-jeweled to 21 jewels. 10-size production began at 22,280,001 and 14-size production ended at 24,577,000 so their should be some overlap between the two. The photo shows a 14-size (upper left) and a 10-size (lower right) Colonial A. The 10-size is probably from the early 20s and the 14-size from the mid-20s.

[Ethan Lipsig]

Jerry, I would be interested in the Colonial A if I understood it better. What makes a Colonial an "A"? As a case in point, I am attaching photos of two watches in my collection. One definitely is a Colonial A; I am including a photo of it it with its original sales materials showing that it was quite an expensive watch when orginally sold around 90 years ago. The other watch is virtually identical looking Colonial, but with a slightly different style case from a different maker, with a 21 jewel movement, not a 19 jewel one as in the marked "A," and not sporting any "A" designations. Is the second one an "A"? If not, why not?

In each of the pairs of photos below, the "A" is shown first.

[Jerry Treiman]

Ethan - as you note, your first watch is clearly a Colonial A (10-size, in this instance). Your second watch is the Colonial-B (also listed as the 1924 Colonial)*. The two can be differentiated by several characteristics. Mainly, note the curvature of the match between the center bridge and barrel bridge - they curve in opposite directions. The B-model has a similar shape to the 1894-model 12-size; the A-model has the opposite curve so that both margins of the center bridge flare away from each other. More subtle differences include the contour of the other margin of the center bridge and the fact that you won't find a whiplash regulator on the Colonial A. I also believe that the A-model may be thinner.
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*footnote on the "1924 Colonial" -- I often wonder how Waltham derived these year designations. I have a 1923 Waltham catalog that shows this model, listed merely as a Colonial.

[IMHO]

Jerry,

Per your footnote, and based on what I've been able to determine with the limited data I can find and cross check, the model 1894 12 size at some point began to be referred to as (the first) "Colonial" model.

This group included the grades Maximus, Riverside and Royal, and apparently gained this distinction by one or both of the following:

a) being thinner than previous model 1894 12 size models
b) being adjusted to positions

Dave

Update:

This change in nomenclature for the 12 size model 1894 seems to have occurred around 1905 and is referred to in the Waltham list as "Ser." (for "Series" I believe) along with a size listed as "Col" for Colonial. A second change occurred around 1911 with the Waltham list now including a "Ser. A" and still with size "Col".

Update 2:

Then in 1924 or so (sn beginning 23,285,001) the size "Colonial B", grade 1225, shows up with the first model 1924 distinction.

And I believe there's a lot more to uncover wrt these 10-14 size "Colonial" Walthams!

[Robert Sweet]

Here is a catalog image of the "Colonial A" from 1925.

Robert


http://i310.photobucket.com/albums/kk403/rmsweet1/HamiltonColonial-A-1925.png

[Jerry Treiman]

Great ad, Robert. I had not seen that one. Based on the illustrations it looks as if they are still offering the 14-A, although the 10-A was in (apparently) limited production.

For Dave - as near as I can tell it was around 1907 when Waltham actually introduced the first of a long line of "Colonial" labeled watches. What this name applied to evolved over the years, but regardless of the watch the intent was always to create a watch that was thinner in appearance, if not always in fact.

The first Colonial, the "Colonial Series" was based on the 1894 12-size, and when cased it can be difficult to tell them apart from the back. The "Colonial Series" movement has the same back plates and parts (and thickness) as the standard 12-size, but has a 14-size pillar plate and used a larger dial and special case. Thus, it was a 14-size watch but had the thinness of a 12-size watch -- a great improvement over the earlier 14-size watches. (I am ignoring the 1897 model 14-size, also based on the 1894 model, which was almost exclusively an export model). The "Colonial Series" was made in grades from a 15-jewel model up to the Riverside Maximus.

The next step in the Colonial evolution was the "Colonial-A" referred to in this thread. It was an entirely new model and was thinner than any other American movement. As described above it was initially a 14-size model, but later was made in 10-size. It came in only two grades, Maximus or Riverside (both adjusted to 5 positions), was cased only in gold cases and was always considered a higher-grade and elegant watch.

The third Colonial model was the "Colonial-B", like Ethan's second watch above. This used a new 12-size movement that was thinner than the 1894 model, but not nearly as thin as the Colonial-A. Introduced in 1923 (but called the 1924 model in the material catalog) it was made in the middle grades (17-19j), with the best model being a Riverside grade that was later up-jeweled to 21 jewels.

The fourth Colonial model was the "Colonial-R" (also called the 1945 model) which did not actually come out until 1946 or a little later. I have not studied this late model Waltham.

[Jerry Treiman]

Here is the earliest Colonial A ad I have seen, from 1913. Since this board shrinks images I have trimmed all but the ad copy from the image so it may remain legible, but the entire ad is shown in the inset.

[Jerry Treiman]

By the way, this early ad raises the issue of the information booklets that Waltham offered to mail out. I have been looking for a copy of the "Riverside" booklet, as well as the "Thin Watches" booklet. I would appreciate any leads to an original or a copy of either of these.

[IMHO]

Thanks Jerry - each time I think I've got these Colonials figured out, it turns out that I don't!

What tripped me up this time was sn 14,027,621, which looks like drawing EA 74 (for the 14 size model 1897) but is a true 12 size (and a Riverside 19J). I assumed incorrectly then that the original Colonial must be the 12 size watch as in sn 14,027,621.

But if the original Colonial was the 14 size model 1897 (in two plate variations, EA 74 & 75?), and this 14M serial number is too early to be a 12 size model 1924 - what might this watch be?

The "not available" EA 78A (although it's not really a 3/4 plate - but neither is EA 74 to me!)?

Or a variation of the 12 size model 1894 bridge model?

Dave

[Jerry Treiman]

Unfortunately Roy Ehrhardt messed things up and confused a lot of people with incorrectly labeled EA drawings. EA 74 and EA75 are actually Colonial Series movements in the two plate configurations used for the Colonial Series (and two of the three patterns used for the 1894 model). The attached image shows most of the models discussed. Those based on the 1894 model (left side) show only the 3/4-plate configuration although there were other plate patterns used for the 1894 and Colonial Series movements.

[Jerry Treiman]

I realize the differences in the three movements on the left may be a little subtle, especially in this reduced image, so I am enlarging the upper edge of each movement in this image. The upper red line indicates the outer edge of the two 14-size pillar plates (Colonial Series and 1897) and the middle thin red line is the edge of the 12-size movement. The lower red line shows the comparable back-plate diameters of the 1894 model and the Colonial Series and also shows that the 1897 model has a slightly larger back plate.

[IMHO]

Thanks again Jerry for your most helpful knowledge. The Colonial / model 1894 series are each an interesting research subject, and together could keep someone occupied for a long time!

I'll save my next question, on the "#1271", for a dedicated Colonial B thread. :)

Dave

[Jerry Treiman]

To return to the Colonial A, the movement variety is relatively limited. The 14 size movement was made in a 21-jewel "Maximus A" grade and a 19-jewel "Riverside A" that was later up-jeweled to 21 jewels (seemingly around the time the 10-A Maximus was upgraded to 23 jewels). There was some slight variation in the position of some of the markings, but the damasceening remained consistent. The first few runs had screws to hold in the upper plate jewels, but later runs only used jewel screws on the center jewel. Initially the Maximus had all gold train wheels while the Riverside only had a gold center wheel, but toward the later years of production the Maximus only had a gold center wheel and the Riverside center wheel does not look gold.

[Jerry Treiman]

The 10 size movement was made in a 21-jewel "Maximus A" for the first run of 200. A few of the first run had a full gold gear train, but they seem to have quickly cut back to just a gold center wheel. The next 2,000 10-size Maximus A were made with 23 jewels and a gold center wheel. The Riverside A in 10-size had 19 jewels with gold center wheel and a late switch to a brass center wheel, much like the 14-size.

[Jerry Treiman]

Beyond these few movement variants the real attraction of this model comes in the outward presentation, with a progression from a very simple smooth case to carved and fancy cases and dials. Below is a catalog page from 1921. You can see just how special these are.

Someone must have some nice examples to share?

[Jerry Treiman]

Here is a somewhat later case that was shown in a 1928 catalog page. The ad below must have been from just about when Waltham upgraded their 14-size Riverside-A from 19 jewels to 21 jewels. Note how in the ad the title and first line refer to 21 jewels, but lower in the ad copy it still says 19 jewels. This particular case was saved from the smelter and a replacement Riverside movement of about the same vintage was restored to it.

[instantinlaw]

This is a great thread. I learned a lot about my Riverside. Thanks guys!

[avenger]

The fourth Colonial model was the "Colonial-R" (also called the 1945 model) which did not actually come out until 1946 or a little later. I have not studied this late model Waltham.

.
Speaking of the Colonial 'R', I have one of these movements. It is a 21 jewel in what looks to be NOS condition (not so much as a scratch or fingerprint on it). However, I can find next to nothing in the line of information on it. I would like to find a case for it but I'm not sure of its size (it measures 1.440" if I'm measuring correctly).

Anyway, even if I can't find a case, I would like to know more about it.
.

[Jerry Treiman]

You can find a little more on this late model in this thread on the Global Horology message board -
http://global-horology.com/GHMB/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=1299&p=7446